How to Train Your Dragon 3 – How to Train Your Dragon 3 (2019)

Directed by: Dean DeBlois | 104 minutes | animation, action | Original voice cast: Gerard Butler, Cate Blanchett, Jonah Hill, Kit Harington, Kristen Wiig, Jay Baruchel, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, America Ferrara, F. Murray Abraham, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, Craig Ferguson, Justin Rupple, AJ Kane | Dutch voice cast: Patrick Martens, Terrence Schreurs

“When I was a boy, you had real dragons.” That is the very first sentence from the first book that Cressida Cowell wrote in her successful children’s book series ‘How to Train Your Dragon’. This one line of text was the main source of inspiration for Canadian filmmaker Dean DeBlois when making the film series of the same name. The sentence seems very simple, but it fascinates by its simplicity and makes us think. First, there were once dragons in the world that Cowell created. Then you want to know how the main character – in this case the viking Hiccup – experienced that there were dragons and then you wonder: what happened to those dragons? One sentence, ten words but so much information. DeBlois got carried away and created the fantastic first part of the film series ‘How to Train Your Dragon?’ in 2010. When that film was being finalized, Cowell paid a visit to DreamWorks Animation Studios. “She told me she was working on the last book in the series, the one that reveals what happened to the dragons,” DeBlois said in an interview with a film website. “I immediately found that idea very interesting because it has an emotional charge. I immediately saw in it a wonderful mystery to investigate.” How that ended is known. With ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ and ‘How to Train Your Dragon 2’ (2014), DeBlois created two undisputed masterpieces in the field of animation, which not only stand out for their high technical level, but also beautifully reveal an authentic emotional layer. that will have left few people untouched.

It was clear from the start that the film series would become a trilogy. And in the third part, an explanation would be given as to why we no longer have dragons in our present world. And ‘How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World’ does that effectively. The story takes place about a year after the events of Part 2. With chief Stoick (voiced by Gerard Butler, in flashbacks) gone, his son Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) is slowly but surely developing as the new leader of the island of Berk. Vikings and dragons live peacefully side by side here, but Hiccup may be going a little overboard with his “free all dragons” policy. Because because new liberation actions regularly take place on other islands, and all the liberated dragons come to Berk, the island becomes overcrowded. Not everyone is equally happy with the new ‘way of life’. Poachers are after the dragons – especially the rare ones – and the terrifying Grimmel (F. Murray Abraham) is eager to get rid of all dragons and has his sights on the latest Night Fury: Hiccup’s faithful companion Toothless. He doesn’t see the danger coming at all; he has something else on his mind. Not only does he have to get used to his new role as “alpha male” among the dragons; he also discovers love in a graceful and mysterious gleaming white Night Fury. What he and Hiccup don’t know is that Grimmel uses her as a lure to lead Toothless to him. Hiccup realizes that he must give his best friend space to go after his wife. Meanwhile, with his heroic group of friends and mother Valka (Cate Blanchett), he searches for the mythical ‘hidden world’, a place of lore that many have talked about but no one has ever visited. This should be the place where the dragons can live safely, without fear of hunters like Grimmel.

What’s great about the ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ series: the three films really form a unit. Although you can also watch the films separately from each other, all three together enrich and reinforce each other. For a cartoon character, Hiccup goes through some great character development throughout the three films. We got to know him as a timid pacifist, a kid who didn’t seem to have the guts to ever lead the tribe, intelligent and a dreamer. Not only physically a scoundrel, but also in terms of courage and daring, he was not at all like his imposing father. But thanks to his impossible friendship with the very powerful but equally endearing dragon Toothless, he learned his powers: empathy and compassion. He also proved to be one of the best fliers and to have the ability to play a connecting role between the Vikings and the dragons. Violent events such as the death of his father and the re-finding of his mother cut into it, but in the end only made him stronger and more stable. In this third film, the character development goes even further and Hiccup really matures. That includes letting go, as we all know. And make choices where your heart says something different than your mind. In the ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ series, we see Hiccup – and to a lesser extent his friends Astrid (America Ferrara), Snotlout (Jonah Hill), Fishlegs (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) and the others – grow before our very eyes and grow up. A process that involves trial and error, but in which Hiccup always keeps his goal in mind. What a leader he has become!

Of course, we also come for the spectacular action scenes, and there are plenty of those again. We get off to a great start with a dragon rescue on a foggy pirate ship, with Hiccup swinging his flaming sword around like a Lightsaber. The scenes are beautifully designed with the latest animation techniques and under the approving eye of none other than Roger Deakins, a master of cinematography. Partly because of this, the views and landscapes are more impressive than ever. The atmospheric music of John Powell makes it complete. One of the highlights is the ‘mating dance’ of Toothless and his girlfriend; this beautiful scene proves that no words are needed to tell a story. Toothless who starts off clumsily, tries everything and finally strikes the right chord; how delighted we as viewers are to be an eyewitness to this! The voice cast returns in its entirety, including Craig Ferguson as Hiccups ‘mentor’ Gobber. F.Murray Abraham is a welcome addition to the cast; his Grimmel is a better villain than Blutvist that was in part two. Sinister, calculating and memorable. Snotlout competes with an unsuspecting Ered (Kit Harington) for Valka’s favors, which makes for a comical twist. So do the misadventures of twins Ruffnut (Kristen Wiig) and Tuffnut (Justin Rupple).

But the heart of the film, the emotional core, lies with Hiccup and his buddy Toothless. Many will shed a tear when they realize that we as an audience, just like Hiccup, have to let go of Toothless at some point. ‘How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World’, like its predecessors, aims for a certain form of drama (or call it tragedy, in the case of part 2), but does so without the silliness. That wouldn’t suit Vikings either, not even an atypical case like Hiccup. We’ve grown to love him and Toothless and with the end of this third film in sight, we realize that this is really the last film in the series. If we didn’t shed a tear before, we do now. How clever is it of DeBlois and co that they have not lost an inch of authenticity during the three films? How many times have we seen that the second and third parts of a series can compete with the original and – as for the second film – be even a fraction better? With the trilogy ‘How to Train Your Dragon’, DeBlois has proven that it is possible to make three equally strong films, which connect seamlessly and in which we can witness the coming of age of a cartoon character (which is much more than just Which). A film series to laugh and cry with, with action scenes that are just as compelling as the sometimes bitter life lessons that the main character is taught. This trilogy is one to be framed!